Bizarre clouds split the sky over southern China

The sky over Guangdong Province looked like it was split in half on Thursday. Chinese netizens were wowed by the phenomenon.

Pictures circulating online prompted a barrage of curiosity with some comments saying it was like “the deity in the sky is playing with Photoshop” or “the curtain of the sky is half drawn.”

The phenomenon of altocumulus clouds is caused by severe wind shear, according to experts from Guangdong Meteorological Observatory. Wind shear is the difference between wind speed and direction over a short distance in the atmosphere, and can be broken into horizontal and vertical components.

Photos of “the split sky” were captured by netizens in several of the province's cities including Zhaoqing, Foshan, Jiangmen and Guangzhou.